PHNOM PENH — As expected, naturalized player Justin Brownlee and Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger will lead the final 12 of Gilas Pilipinas players seeing action in the men’s basketball competition of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
Barring any last-minute changes, the Gilas squad plunging into action at the Elephant Hall 2 of the Morodok Techo National Stadium on Tuesday will also be composed of Mason Amos, Jerom Lastimosa, Michael Phillips, Chris Newsome, Arvin Tolentino, Calvin Oftana, Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, CJ Perez and Brandon Ganuelas-Rooser.
Ben Phillips, Michael’s brother, Aaron Black and Jeremiah Gray are the reserves.
Gilas opens their quest to regain the cage gold medal against Malaysia on Tuesday, followed by Cambodia on 11 May and Singapore on 13 May.
The Philippines lost the gold medal of the SEA Games last year against Indonesia, which ended the Filipinos’ 28-year reign.
Amos plays for Ateneo de Manila while Phillips is with La Salle and Lastimosa is with Adamson University.
Amos, who got the baptism of fire in the sixth and final window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers a few months ago at the Philippine Arena, was the only teenage player who saw action in the Gilas men’s team.
Indonesia, now without main man and naturalized center Marquez Bolden, is still spiked with other naturalized players such as former Philippine Basketball Association import Lester Prosper.
Thailand also poses as a serious threat to Gilas’ bid to complete their road to redemption following the heartbreaking loss they sustained last year in Hanoi.
Calling the shots for Gilas is Chot Reyes with Tim Cone as chief assistant.
Meanwhile, Gilas 3×3 women entered the semifinal round after slamming defending champion Thailand, 14-8.
With the win, the Philippines faces Cambodia, which earlier survived Indonesia.
Beefed up by American players, Cambodia will definitely serve as the biggest test for the Filipinas.
“We’re up against the defending champion and the favorites, Vietnam, is also in our group, so it was like a group of death for us,” said coach Patrick Aquino.
Earlier, the Filipinas lost to the Vietnamese side, 21-19.
